The first ingredient is a named meat product in meal form. There is a further meat meal ingredient 7th on the list, which helps to give us some confidence that the food contains an adequate amount of meat. This is a fish meal ingredient and we note that the manufacturer does not state the use of ethoxyquin-free sources (ethoxyquin is a chemical preservative commonly added to fish destined for meal, and is believed to be carcinogenic).

The second ingredient in the food is brewers rice. Brewers rice is a low quality grain and by-product. It is followed by brown rice, barley and oatmeal which are good quality grains and a good source of carbohydrates and additional protein.

Beet pulp is a filler and a controversial ingredient – it is a by-product, being dried residue from sugar beets which has been cleaned and extracted in the process of manufacturing sugar. It is a controversial ingredient in dog food, claimed by some manufacturers to be a good source of fibre, and derided by others as an ingredient added to slow down the transition of rancid animal fats and causing stress to kidney and liver in the process. We note that beet pulp is an ingredient that commonly causes problems for dogs, including allergies and ear infections, and prefer not to see it used in dog food. There are less controversial products around if additional fibre is required.

Flaxseed is a good quality source of 6 and Omega 3 essential fatty acids. But digest of poultry is yet another low quality ingredient. The AAFCO definition of animal digest is “material which results from chemical and/or enzymatic hydrolysis of clean and undecomposed animal tissue. Likewise, spray dried poultry liver digest is a low quality flavouring

Poultry fat is an ingredient of unidentified origin for which it is impossible to determine source or quality. Unidentified ingredients are usually very low quality. AAFCO define this as obtained from the tissues of poultry in the commercial processes of rendering or extracting. It consists predominantly of glyceride esters of fatty acids and contains no additions of free fatty acids. If an antioxidant is used, the common name or names must be indicated, followed by the words "used as a preservative"